[9fans] XP boot

[9fans] XP boot

[boyd, rounin]

rather than do some something irresponsible, i was wondering
if anyone knew the XP tweaking to do to get XP to have a
boot menu so i couid could boot XP or p9 off IDE.

i did an ISO text only install.

for extra points i have a 1280x800x32 ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9200 wxga card.

thanks.
--
MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[Russ Cox]

see /bin/pc/bootwinnt.  it works for xp.


On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 00:59:50 +0100, boyd, rounin <boyd@insultant.net> wrote:
> rather than do some something irresponsible, i was wondering
> if anyone knew the XP tweaking to do to get XP to have a
> boot menu so i couid could boot XP or p9 off IDE.
>
> i did an ISO text only install.
>
> for extra points i have a 1280x800x32 ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9200 wxga card.
>
> thanks.
> --
> MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604
>
>

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[boyd, rounin]

    see /bin/pc/bootwinnt.  it works for xp.

i see i have a /dev/sdC0/ntfs and there's this horrible XP
thing called bootcfg to tweak it.

/bin/pc/bootwinnt looks for /dev/sdC0/dos

'doze is such a wretched system.
--
MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[Russ Cox]

i think that if you edit the boot.ini file manually
while you are running xp (just add the lines that
pc/bootwinnt is trying to add) then it should work.

what i don't remember is whether the nt boot loader
can actually read boot.ini files on ntfs partitions.
i hope so.

russ


On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 02:11:11 +0100, boyd, rounin <boyd@insultant.net> wrote:
>     see /bin/pc/bootwinnt.  it works for xp.
>
> i see i have a /dev/sdC0/ntfs and there's this horrible XP
> thing called bootcfg to tweak it.
>
> /bin/pc/bootwinnt looks for /dev/sdC0/dos
>
> 'doze is such a wretched system.
> --
> MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604
>
>

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[Joel Salomon]

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 20:20:50 -0500, Russ Cox <russcox@gmail.com> wrote:
> i think that if you edit the boot.ini file manually
> while you are running xp (just add the lines that
> pc/bootwinnt is trying to add) then it should work.

Trying to edit boot.ini can be a pain, though.

Right-click on a "My Computer" icon, select "Properties" from the
drop-down menu. Click the "Advanced" tab, then the "Settings" button
in the "Startup and Recovery" section. Click "Edit" to edit boot.ini.

Any other method fails—boot.ini is protected by more than the NTFS
file protection scheme, and I don't believe there's another way around
it.

--Joel

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[Federico Benavento]

> Any other method fails—boot.ini is protected by more than the NTFS
> file protection scheme, and I don't believe there's another way around
> it.
What about "edit c:\boot.ini" at the cmd prompt?


-- 
Federico G. Benavento

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[boyd, rounin]

    Any other method fails—boot.ini is protected by more than the NTFS
    file protection scheme, and I don't believe there's another way around it.

yes, it is a very strange file.  i got some private mail from russ and after
finding boot.ini it was read only.  turn that off and write it with notepad.
[seemingly] randomly it would turn on read only.

there is this command line thing called 'bootcfg' which is absolutely
undecipherable, although i now understand something about the format
of the file by tinkering.

boot.ini essentially points at a 'boot block'.  i'm a bit wary about [potentially]
smashing a currently bootable system.

this will take some thought.
--
MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[Russ Cox]

it's much easier just to install smart boot manager
and avoid the nt boot loader.  
hget http://pdos.lcs.mit.edu/~rsc/mbr.bootmgr
disk/mbr -m mbr.bootmgr /dev/sdC0/data

russ


On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 18:16:43 +0100, boyd, rounin <boyd@insultant.net> wrote:
>     Any other method fails—boot.ini is protected by more than the NTFS
>     file protection scheme, and I don't believe there's another way around it.
> 
> yes, it is a very strange file.  i got some private mail from russ and after
> finding boot.ini it was read only.  turn that off and write it with notepad.
> [seemingly] randomly it would turn on read only.
> 
> there is this command line thing called 'bootcfg' which is absolutely
> undecipherable, although i now understand something about the format
> of the file by tinkering.
> 
> boot.ini essentially points at a 'boot block'.  i'm a bit wary about [potentially]
> smashing a currently bootable system.
> 
> this will take some thought.
> --
> MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604
> 
>

Fwd: [9fans] XP boot

[Russ Cox]

hey look!  history repeats itself.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Russ Cox <russcox@gmail.com>
Date: Feb 2, 2005 3:14 PM
Subject: Re: [9fans] XP boot
To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@cse.psu.edu>


it's much easier just to install smart boot manager
and avoid the nt boot loader.
hget http://pdos.lcs.mit.edu/~rsc/mbr.bootmgr
disk/mbr -m mbr.bootmgr /dev/sdC0/data

russ


On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 18:16:43 +0100, boyd, rounin <boyd@insultant.net> wrote:
>     Any other method fails—boot.ini is protected by more than the NTFS
>     file protection scheme, and I don't believe there's another way around it.
>
> yes, it is a very strange file.  i got some private mail from russ and after
> finding boot.ini it was read only.  turn that off and write it with notepad.
> [seemingly] randomly it would turn on read only.
>
> there is this command line thing called 'bootcfg' which is absolutely
> undecipherable, although i now understand something about the format
> of the file by tinkering.
>
> boot.ini essentially points at a 'boot block'.  i'm a bit wary about [potentially]
> smashing a currently bootable system.
>
> this will take some thought.
> --
> MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604
>
>

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[boyd, rounin]

> hey look!  history repeats itself.

tell me something i don't know.

smashing machines is not part of my plan.

the install scripts make more sense.

btw:  attrib -s - h c:\boot.ini
--
MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[Bruce Ellis]

funny but a bit too late, very late.  when in doubt "read the code".
then you won't make comments about things you don't read.
and caching opens is ridiculous.

brucee (in paris)

On 6/2/05, boyd, rounin <boyd@insultant.net> wrote:
> > hey look!  history repeats itself.
> 
> tell me something i don't know.
> 
> smashing machines is not part of my plan.
> 
> the install scripts make more sense.
> 
> btw:  attrib -s - h c:\boot.ini
> --
> MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[Adrian Tritschler]

boyd, rounin wrote:
>    Any other method fails—boot.ini is protected by more than the NTFS
>    file protection scheme, and I don't believe there's another way 
> around it.
> 
> yes, it is a very strange file.  i got some private mail from russ and 
> after
> finding boot.ini it was read only.  turn that off and write it with 
> notepad.
> [seemingly] randomly it would turn on read only.
> 
> there is this command line thing called 'bootcfg' which is absolutely
> undecipherable, although i now understand something about the format
> of the file by tinkering.
> 
> boot.ini essentially points at a 'boot block'.  i'm a bit wary about 
> [potentially]
> smashing a currently bootable system.
> 
> this will take some thought.

The following (linux-centric) doc may help.
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/pdf/Linux+NT-Loader.pdf

OTOH, I use one of the simple boot managers, such as BOOTMGR mentioned 
by Russ.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Adrian Tritschler                          mailto:ajft@ajft.org
Latitude 38°S, Longitude 145°E, Altitude 50m,      Shoe size 44
---------------------------------------------------------------

RE: [9fans] XP boot

[Benjamin Huntsman]

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Edit doesn't work right from cmd.exe... it'll crash on exit when it tries to load command.com...

...Assuming you are the Administrator, you shouldn't have to worry about boot.ini's security.  In my expereince, the Plan9 option for setting up the boot menu will set things up right in principle, but it won't work when you select the "Plan 9" option. (that could be because my P9 install was on a different HD) I've heard it said somewhere that instead of having some sort of pointer (I forget what exactly... XP system not present currently), you can copy the boot sector and imbed it directly into the Plan9 section in boot.ini.  Hope that helps...

-Ben

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from postmaster@ethel:
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prove to be harmless.  To avoid possible automatic
execution, we changed the content headers.
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	name="winmail.dat"
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Re: [9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

[Russ Cox]

You need to copy the first sector of your Plan 9 partition
into a file bootsect.p9 on your NT drive, and then use
something like (this is from my Win2000 system):

[boot loader]
timeout=3600
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
c:\bootsect.p9 = "Plan 9 from Bell Labs"

There are a few gotchas.  First, make sure your
9fat has the right PBS before you copy the first
sector.  For example,

	disk/format -b /386/pbslba /dev/sdC0/plan9
	dd -bs 512 -count 1 < /dev/sdC0/plan9 > bootsect.p9

will probably do the right thing.
Note that format -b doesn't do anything other than
replace the PBS code.  In particular it doesn't format
the disk.

The other gotcha is that I vaguely recall reading that
sectors you put in the [operating systems] section have
to be on a FAT drive for the boot loader to find them.
This seems unlikely, since the boot loader clearly reads
NTFS to get at the boot.ini file.  But if it is true, then you're
just out of luck.

Another option is to install something like Partition Magic
and let it handle the boot menu.  (Anyone know of a good
free program like that, just for selecting the primary partition?)

Russ

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[Joel Salomon]

On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 18:16:43 +0100, boyd, rounin <boyd@insultant.net> wrote:
> boot.ini essentially points at a 'boot block'.  i'm a bit wary about [potentially]
> smashing a currently bootable system.
> 
> this will take some thought.

Well, I checked the 9fans archives, since I recall getting help on
this problem some time ago, and voilà!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Russ Cox
Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 20:17:16 GMT
Subject: Re: [9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

You need to copy the first sector of your Plan 9 partition
into a file bootsect.p9 on your NT drive, and then use
something like (this is from my Win2000 system):

[boot loader]
timeout=3600
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
c:\bootsect.p9 = "Plan 9 from Bell Labs"

There are a few gotchas.  First, make sure your
9fat has the right PBS before you copy the first
sector.  For example,

disk/format -b /386/pbslba /dev/sdC0/plan9
dd -bs 512 -count 1 < /dev/sdC0/plan9 > bootsect.p9

will probably do the right thing.
Note that format -b doesn't do anything other than
replace the PBS code.  In particular it doesn't format
the disk.

<snip>

Russ

[9fans] XP boot

[Joel Salomon]

On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 18:16:43 +0100, boyd, rounin <boyd@insultant.net> wrote:
> boot.ini essentially points at a 'boot block'.  i'm a bit wary about [potentially]
> smashing a currently bootable system.
>
> this will take some thought.

Well, I checked the 9fans archives, since I recall getting help on
this problem some time ago, and voilà!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Russ Cox
Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 20:17:16 GMT
Subject: Re: [9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

You need to copy the first sector of your Plan 9 partition
into a file bootsect.p9 on your NT drive, and then use
something like (this is from my Win2000 system):

[boot loader]
timeout=3600
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
c:\bootsect.p9 = "Plan 9 from Bell Labs"

There are a few gotchas.  First, make sure your
9fat has the right PBS before you copy the first
sector.  For example,

disk/format -b /386/pbslba /dev/sdC0/plan9
dd -bs 512 -count 1 < /dev/sdC0/plan9 > bootsect.p9

will probably do the right thing.
Note that format -b doesn't do anything other than
replace the PBS code.  In particular it doesn't format
the disk.

<snip>

Russ

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[boyd, rounin]

    Well, I checked the 9fans archives, since I recall getting help on
    this problem some time ago, and voilà!

well yeah, until you get this [translation for the tiny amount of french]:

    <window's root>\system32\hall.dll

would appear to be missing.

it would seem they [u$loth] have gone out of their way to make it impossible.
--
MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[Andrew Simmons]

>
>    <window's root>\system32\hall.dll
>
>would appear to be missing.
This may or may not help:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;330184

You're entering a world of pain son, a world of pain.

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[boyd, rounin]

> You're entering a world of pain son, a world of pain.

locks and loads M1911 ...

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[Wes Kussmaul]

Andrew Simmons wrote:

>
> This may or may not help:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;330184
>
> You're entering a world of pain son, a world of pain.

I tried to make this XP laptop into a multi-boot machine following those
instructions (after having tried the usual *BSD methods). It didn't
work. Once XP owns your machine it does not want to see squatters in its
midst. Ended up sending the machine back to HP.

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[boyd, rounin]

> Once XP owns your machine it does not want to see squatters in its
> midst. Ended up sending the machine back to HP.


yes, this was my conclusion.  i've seen these bastards break interfaces
etc to ensure that their shit is the only thing that runs on it.

lesson 1: go near XP you don't get to run plan 9 (unless you use external
boot media).

lesson 2: fewer and fewer machines have floppies.
--
MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[Russ Cox]

> lesson 1: go near XP you don't get to run plan 9 (unless you use external
> boot media).

this is just not true.  you can use smart boot manager,
as has been mentioned already in this thread, and
everything just works.  you get a nice little menu at
boot time, and neither plan 9 nor windows xp has
to get involved.

i've used 2000/xp and plan 9 together without external boot
media for four years.

russ

Re: [9fans] XP boot

[boyd, rounin]

>> lesson 1: go near XP you don't get to run plan 9 (unless you use external
>> boot media).
>
> this is just not true.  you can use smart boot manager,
> as has been mentioned already in this thread, and
> everything just works.

russ, i'm just not 'feeling lucky'.  customer 'service' in .fr is a bit of an oxymoron.
--
MGRS 31U DQ 52572 12604